www.womanthismonth.com 75 July 2013 nutrition facts with things you didn’t even know existed,” she explains. After making these dietary changes, Line recovered from the migraines and the psoriasis cleared up. “I felt healthy, strong and alive,” she admits. Making such sweeping changes to the food she and her family ate was a challenge at first because she had to learn what foods to eat and how to prepare them as meals. “I tried to imitate and replace all the flavours and all the processed food that was once part of my poor eating habits. I’ve since learned to enjoy and appreciate the pure flavours of just one food at a time. Dishes don’t have to be mixed with anything or smothered in dressings to taste good,” says Line, whose typical meal is grilled chicken breast seasoned with cumin, raw broccoli and raw walnuts, which she says is easy to prepare, super healthy and provides the right balance of carbs, fat and protein. Adapting clean eating into a family lifestyle like everything else requires some planning. “It’s a challenge to eat clean in the sense that everything needs to be available,” says Line, who does her shopping at the fish market in the Central Market area, local farms and a variety of supermarkets. By prepping and portioning meals on the weekends, she can feed her family wholesome home-cooked meals for several days at time. “My kids eat the same but eat more carbs in forms of fruit, oats and brown rice. We keep a dairy-free home, but the kids are not restricted when out for birthday parties for example. They enjoy pizza and ice cream like other kids,” says Line who makes her own version of ice cream using frozen bananas with a toffee caramel topping made of frozen dates, grated dark chocolate and chopped walnuts to complement the sweetness. Cooking is easy Our expert: Roaya Saleh, managing director, Villa Mamas Restaurateur Roaya Saleh is passionate about clean eating in both her family kitchen and at her Saar restaurant. “Cooking is easy,” exclaims Roaya, adding that even the most complicated dishes can be made within an hour. “It’s clean eating when you know what goes in your food.” The main idea behind clean eating is getting in the kitchen and really enjoying the simplicity of food. Both Line and Roaya dismiss the idea that we need to slave over a hot stove for hours on end, but being in the kitchen does require an understanding of the basics of food ingredients and tools that we should use. For example, if you want to make a quiche but don’t have the proper pan to make it in, then you will never make that quiche. “At the same time,” Roaya says, “we also worry too much about following recipes. Aside from baking, where we have to really follow recipes to the letter, we can and should be less rigid about measurements and ingredients in cooking. People know what they like to eat but are intimated in the kitchen. I love nuts, fruits and dried fruits. So I try to incorporate them in the dish even if the recipe doesn’t call for it because I know what I like to eat.” People need to take time, educate themselves and be in charge of their own kitchens explains Roaya who plans and prepares her family meals on weekends and before she leaves for work. “Lots of women don’t know the difference between herbs, oils or grains. I’ve had ladies ask me about quinoa, which I also It’s clean eating when you know what goes in your food
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==